More than two decades ago, I found myself in Outer Mongolia, not the idiom, the actual place. I was teaching several university classes a day, working as a full time missionary, trying to learn a foreign language that sounded like spitting (but with style), trying to help the scouts of Mongolia ditch the communist undertones, and living in what was a constant scavenger hunt for bread, eggs, and Snicker bars (you know the basics). And though I was young and full of *stuff* and vinegar, I was scared, nervous, unsure and homesick. So for about a year, each night I took to writing a motivational thought in my journal at the end of each entry.
A couple of days ago I was watching a movie that had a resolution line that was so spot on. I wish more people thought that way. So I started to write a post on the best advice I had ever heard. The only problem was that I was short of advice that I had heard AND actually wrote down. Turns out that though I spew out lots of text, I don't take notes (I think law school cured me of that). As I struggled to fill up my blog, I remembered my journal sayings from my years in Mongolia. So as I thumbed through the old journal pages I saw where much of my attitudes in life was forged. Were they Cheesy and sophomoric? For sure. But that is likely a step up for this blog. Also, as I read many of the things I wrote, I began to wonder if someone borrowed my journal, pilfered these sayings, and added cat pictures to make millions.
Through my eye-rolling at my younger self, I found a few of them resonated with the older chubbier blog writing self. So I thought I'd share them. I also found a few of them lame and campy. So I may as well share them too. Ah the narcissism of the modern blogger, no pile of stuff is too smelly not to share. So here are my pre-cat poster cat posters from a 19 year old nomad preacher:
"Hell is an eternal "what if?"
Not sure if I meant Hell in the religious or emotional sense, but either works. Nothing worse in life than looking back at your life and saying "What if I had just done this instead of that." while shaking your clenched fists to the sky in agony. Now we can't change the past and we do need to let it go, but before we go all Elsa on it, if you catch a "what if" early enough, it actually becomes a "what could be?" And we CAN change those. So I advocate living today in a way that has few "What ifs" tomorrow.
"If you have nothing to say, better redo your day."
Context here people; this was my own observation to my journal on the activities on that day. It was a day in outer-flipping Mongolia as a 19 year old university teacher/missionary. Yet somehow I found nothing special that day to write. If there was nothing to say about a day, good, bad or otherwise, why did we bother living it? No don't kill yourself (unless I have some ISIS readers, then be my guest). Instead I suggest doing something memorable. Make that day worth it in one small facet or another; a sunset, a good meal, an adventure.
"If you don't have the time, don't not think."
OK, but for the triple negative, this one I really like (Do I get degree of difficulty points for the trip-neg?). Assuming you actually have the ability to think, life is so much easier when you actually do think. Even with decisions that need to be made quickly, a fully formed belated plan, is nearly always better than the crap you threw together last minute while throwing up a Facebook post.
"Fight to stay ahead, relax to stay alive."
Boy, I need a camera and a cat for this one! Work is important, but if that work is not balanced with some fun, you become like an old farmer who complains whenever he does something that isn't farming. You need both. Remember even the Great Creator rested on the seventh day and even appeared to have some fun on the other days too ("It's like an otter that lays eggs and has a duck's bill. This will really mess up their animal kingdom classifications.")"Words without actions is a car without fuel."
Oh, an automobile analogy. That was clever of me. It must have been a day where my taxi ran out of gas. Still, how many self-help books are there for people to talk about making their lives better but then they turn on Netflix and kill a whole season in one sitting? And I guess if the self-help books don't help you get stuff done, my catch phrase won't help you either. Maybe it just needs a cat?
"If you want something done, don't complain, complete."
Very Cat-Poster-ish. Hey complaining can be entertaining. I should know, it's great blog fodder. But whining never seems to get stuff done. In fact, complaining seems to breed more things to complain about. Kind of a perpetual motion machine of whining.
"Yesterday will never come again."
Many of us long for the past, but just ask Uncle Rico, you can't go back. So enjoy the memory, learn from the pain, apply to the future, to live better today. I think that may have qualified as a poem. I am a cat poster author AND a poet. Feeling pretty good about myself right now.
"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it."
I think I totally pilfered an Einstein poster on this one (no cats though). I haven't actually broken out the spreadsheet to calculate the exact percentages, but it is close enough. There is a lot we cannot control. Our lives are made better or worse by how we deal with those things. A nice historical note, many important scientific discoveries were made from a failed experiment on something else. They took the failure they had in front of them and learned what they could.
"Now go and make something of yourself"
I liked this one. As I was leaving Mongolia, I met with one of the leader there. Things had gone well there. I thought I a kicked some butt and taken some names. But this was his advice, 'Go make something of yourself.' I thought I just had. But as I look back, I was just getting going. As I look at myself today, I realize that I am still on that path. I think it is the rare person who can say that they made something of themselves and can just stop. And even then, the great people who have made something of themselves in one field find a new field in which to give it a go.
So there you have it. Now if you got some inspiration and perspective from these, that is great. I am happy for you. But in truth, I just posted these so if you see any cat posters that ripped me off, you can let me know and I'll take 'em to court... though knowing my luck the jury would just award me several cats.
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